Means for utilizing solar heat.



M. L. SEVERY.

MEANS FOR UTILIZING SOLAR HEAT. nrmouzon FILED 1.4, 1598. nnnnwnn FEB. 29, 1908.

937,013, I Patented 0ct.12,1909.

3 BHBETS-SHEET 1.

Inventor,

Melvin Sevewzy;

Wttorngy M. L. SEVERY.

MEANS FOR UTILIZING SOLAR HEAT.

urmonxon rxnnn 11.4, was. nmmwnn ran. 29, mos.

Patented 001;. 12, 1909.

a sums-sum a.

lWelvin 1 1. Severy; I

MELVIN L. SEVERY, OF ARLINGTQN HEIGHTS, MASSACHUSETTS.

' min-ms ron urrmzl'rre soLAn HEAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1909.

Application filed March 4, 1898, Serial No. 672,491. Renewed February 29, 1908. Serial No. 418,566..

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN L. SEVERY, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Arlington Heights, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Means for Utilizing Solar Heat, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is the construction of improved means for utilizing radiant heat from the sun by concentrating it upon the object to be acted upon thermally. In previous devices for thus concentrating the solar rays, various forms of refleeting surfaces have been employed. In one form, silvered glass of the usual mirror variety has been used; but on account of the rapid crystallization and deterioration of the silvered backing, these do not prove commerciallyv economical. Other inventors have utilized highly polished surface of German silver, and similar materials, which did not thus deteriorate. But as these reflecting surfaces have been metallic and quick to tarnish and become inefiicient, the labor of polishing them has strongly detracted from their utility.

My invention relates to means whereby a heat-concentrating medium can be employed which shall be incapable of tarnishing; and also to certain improvements in construction and detail of the general mechanism for .utilizing the same.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side View of the general mechanism; Fig. 2 is a detail view of the supporting post; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a modification of the spindle supporting and adjusting arrangement; Figs. 3 and 13 are substantially similar views in cross section at X X in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the prismatic plates; Figs, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are diagrammatic modified forms of said plate:

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a modification of,

the heat concentrating plates; Fig. 12 is a perspective cross section of the same.

The heat-gathering device and the boiler containing the agent to be acted upon by the heat are supported by the frame-work, A; and in order to constantly present the same to the full efl'ect of the suns rays, said frame is mounted upon the tubular spindle, P,

which in its turn is pivotally held by the i split -post, R. Said spindle is adjusted, to

allow for the declination of the sun and to bring its plane perpendicular to the suns rays, by means of the toothed segment, T,

acted upon by the worm, t, through the post, R, and the power required for turning the worm, t.

To keep the face of the heat-gathering apparatus constantly presented to the sun during. its-diurnal motion,-in other words, to properly orient it,it must revolve upon the spindle, P, during the hours of the day throu .11 about 180 degrees. This I accomplish y the following mechanism. Fixed to the frame, A, is a large gear Wheel, 'J, with which meshes the pinion, J, carried on the shaft, J In the case J 6 is supposed to be a regulating device, or escapement, connected through the shaft, J pinion, J and gear Wheel, J to said shaft, J; and by means of which the frame, A, is prevented from turning faster than 15 degrees per hour. To turn the frame, I furnish the strong coiled spring, K, one end of which is attached to the gear wheel, J, and the other to the gear wheel, L, which is loosely mounted upon the spindle, P. Meshing with saidgear, L, is a pinion, L,fixed upon the shaft, L By means of the crank-handle, L, and bevel gears, If, said shaft and consequently the gear wheel, L, can be forcibly turned and the spring, K, wound up thereby. The ratchet wheel, L fixed on the shaft,- L and the pawl, If, engaging with said ratchet wheel, holds said spring in its wound condition. By the arrangement thus described, the rotation of the heatathering apparatus can be continued both ay and night, each morning. seeing the same at the proper angle for receiving the suns rays squarely upon its face. I prefer, however, to have the motion of the apparatus continued simply through the day, and toturn it back to the proper angle after each partial rotation. To do this, the pinion, J, is loosely keyed upon the shaft, J and is slipped along said shaft out of mesh with the gear wheel, J, when it is wished to turn the frame back to its initial position, which is done by the attendants applying the required force to the frame itself and moving it as desired.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the post,

R, is split for the reception of the toothed segment, T, and to form suitable bearln s for the pivot-trunnions, R thereof. o more securely hold the said segment and prevent it from vibrating, I form it with the ribs, T, curved concentric with the axle, R and fitting snugly between the postbifurcations, R.

Referring, now, to Fig. 3, in which A is the frame, and P, the supporting spindle therefor, as already described; E, E, represent in section the two tubular boilers which I design to employ, and which are located in the jackets, D, comprising the sides, d, double walled back, (Z and double walled, transparent front, d. By having the jacketfront transparent,-the luminous heat penetrates unimpeded through the same and is converted into dark heat by its impact upon the blackened boiler tubes. Said transparent front is made double in order thebetter to prevent.the .escape of the heat thus bottled up therein. It will further be seen that I provide my solar engine with duplicate boilers and heat-gathering apparatus, one set balancin This ena les me to secure considerably more ower for the same weight of apparatus than 1f the same were not thus duplicate. The reason for this will be partially evident 'upon inspection of Fig. 3, where it will be seen that the spindle, P, which must necessarily be large and strong in order to sustain the apparatus firmly and steadily even in a heavy wind, is so located as to not interfere with the solar rays being deflected upon the boil- 4 ers; said rays being represented by the lines 1, 2 and 3. For, should the apparatus be single instead of duplicate, said spindle would require to be located directly in the path of the solar rays, 2, and thereby diminish the effectiveness of the solar engine by fully one fourth, even should the boiler and other a paratus be broadened to equal the total of the double surfaces. Moreover, to thus broaden the thermal surface would also require the deepening of the apparatus; in other words, the lengthening of the distance between the heat-gathering plates, B, and the boiler; for the reason that to produce a more pronounced divergence of the solar rays in order to superim ose them upon the boiler would pass the limit of economical refraction. Such enlargement of the frame work would, of course, give greater windresistance, cause the loss of more power in orienting the same, be more diflicult to trans port, and in other ways be objectionable. At the upper ends of the boiler tubes, E, is a transverse pipe, or steam dome, F, communicating with each ofsaid tubes, said steam domes being connected by the union-pipe, F.

' Joined to said union-pipe, F, is an arm,

' extending over to the spindle, P, where it is suitably supported and made to terminate the other upon the spindle, P.

steam pipe, f connects with the motor en gine to be driven by the steam or other fluid issuing therefrom, which engine does not, of course, need to be shown. The ob'eet of the said flexible section is to permit 0 the oscillation of the frame, A, in the orienting required by the heatathering apparatus. In the same manner, t e water-injectin tube, h is connected with the boiler-tubesfl-E; the

flexible section, h, inward reaching arm, h,

section, H, and tube, H, joining said tube, if, to each of said boiler tubes E.

My means for collecting and superimposing the suns rays upon each of the boilers consists essentially of a transparent plate, B, formed with prismatic ridges of such a formation as to deflect to the boiler the heatrays which would otherwise pass to one side thereof. This deflection I accomplish in two ways. The first is that of refraction, as il1ustrated inFigs. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. As indicated in Fig. 5, each of said ridges, b, is given an angle of refraction just suflicient to deflect to the boiler the solar rays passing through them. In this case, the emerging rays all issue parallel and strike a sur ace upon the boiler equal in width to the plate, B, itself; while the outer face of the plate is perfectly plane, and can be easily cleansed from accumulating dust. v,

In Fig. 6, is shown a form of plate in which the refracting ridges are formed upon each side thereof. Fig. 7 shows a form of such plate in which the under side of the same is provided with refr'acting prisms or ridges, while the upper surface is given a seriesof slight ridges, b, of convex curvature, one for each ridge, 6, the center of curvature of each of which is adapted to concentrate the solar rays upon an equal number of lineal points upon the boilers. These lenticular ridges serve to concentrate the heat upon each boiler-tube where it would strike the surface squarely instead of tan-' gentially; and thus give the most economical results.

Fig. 8 shows a form of refraction ridge in which the issuin rays are concentrated upon a surface less in width than the plate itself; and said figure also illustrates an arrangement of the boiler tubes in which they-are nested into a space less in width than that they would otherwise, occupy, and yet permit each tube to receive the refracted rays upon a portion of its surface. Fig. 9 illustrates substantially the same construction as Fig. 8, the only difference consisting Fig. 9, and curvedin 8,'said curvature serving the same purpose as the auxil PIVOtGdto the post, R, as before, but the iary curved surfaces, 6, shown in Fig. 7.

Thus far I have described only refracting surfaces as being the means for deflecting the solar rays passing through the striated plates, B. While these are the most prac tical for general construction, I also design to form said plates with surfaces adapted to reflect thelight to the boilers, instead of refracting it. Such reflecting surfaces are illustrated in Figs. 10 and 3. Fig. 10 shows how therays of light impinging upon theoblique surface of each prismatic ridge are reflected at the proper angle 'to escape the ridge next thereto and reach the boiler;- while Fig. 3 shows the complete apparatus and boilers, not materially differing otherwise from the construction illustrated in Fig. 13. In order that there shall thus be the complete internal reflection required to deflect to the boilers the thermal raysstriking the striated plate, the angle of each ridge in cross section must be made so sharp as to greatly endanger their permanence when in use, any chance blow being very apt to fracture and ruin more or less of their sharply projecting edges As w1ll be evident from inspection of Figs. 3 and 13, each boiler, E, is located behind the space separating the two striated plates, B, and such distance of separation is made equal to the width of the boiler. Hence, the solar rays, 2, have uninterrupted passage directly to the surface of the boiler; while the said plates serve to deflect to the I boiler the rays, 1 and 3, which would otherwise pass beside it. Thus each boiler will have superimposed thereon three distinct sets of solar rays, and is heated to a degree much greater than that it would reach if receiving but the direct rays alone. I have shown plates, B, as each about equal in width to the boiler,-thus only triplicating the heat deflected thereto; but as shown in the constructions illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, said plates can be much wider than the boiler, and the heat'concentrated upon the latter may be quadrupled or even sextupled above the normal capacity of the suns rays.

In Figs. 11 and 12 is illustrated a modification of my arrangement of the deflecting plates and boilers. Instead of being rectangular in outline, the plates ma be disposedin a series of concentric circ es; with the boiler tubes coiled beneath, as shown in section in Fig.- 12. The boiler tubes are placed beneath the open spaces between the circles of deflecting plates, and the latter provided with prismatic ridges for refract-.

the declination of the sun, I show in Fig. 2 a construction in which the said spindle is outer end is positively supported by an adjustable prop, U, whose lower end is supposed to be-anchored to the ground. More or less of said prop is screw-threaded to fit.

of the motor machinery, as in any of the several ways shown in previous patents.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows, I

to wit 1. The combination with a flatly extended frame supported in a plane transverse to the suns rays, of a set of prismatic refractors carried by said frame in its own plane,

and a flatly extended boiler fixed in relation to said frame a short distance behind the same and parallel therewith, with its nearest side in the foci of said prisms, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a heat-receiving 3 object, of a plurality of series of prismatic refractors located outside of the path of the rays from the sun to said object, but arran ed to deflect to such'object such of the V V to said frame a short distance behind the same and parallel therewith with its nearest side in the foci of said prisms,whereby the maximum of solar heat can be obtained with the minimum extent and weight of appa ratus.

4. In a device for utilizing solar heat, the combination of a plurality of boilers located in substantially the same plane but separated one from another, and a plurality of heatrefracting devices substantially parallel with said plane but between the same and the sun; said refracting devices being separated from each other to permit the direct rays of the sun to strike said boilers, while being themselves disposed to divert to said boilers the heat-rays striking said refracting devices.

5. In a device for utilizin solar heat, the

. combination of a spindle, a rame supported by said spindle, two boilers carried by said frame a substantial distance apart at the rear of and equidistant from sald spindle,

and four sets of refracting devices carried by said frame in advance of said boilers and spindle, said refracting devices being disposed to permit the direct rays of the sun to,

strike said boilers, and to refract to said boilers the rays striking said refracting de vices; and the central two of said refracting devices being located in front of said spindle which is thereby kept from interference with the rays diverted by said devicesto said boilers. l

6. In a' device for utilizing solar heat, the combination with a supporting spindle'and a frame rotatable thereon, of duplicate boilers held by said frame equidistant from said spindle, and heat-refracting plates held by said frame and adapted to superimpose added heat rays upon said boilers.

7 In a device for utilizing solar heat, the combination with a supporting spindle and heat receiving and heat concentrating apparatus mounted thereon, of a gear wheel turning with said apparatus, a pinion meshing with said gear and provided with suitable speed regulating devices, a coiled spring inclosing said spindle and attached at one end to said gear wheel, a gear wheel loosely mounted on said spindle and attached to the other end of said spring means for turning the last-named gear wheel and thereby ,winding said spring, and a pawl for preventing the unwinding of said spring except when. acting to revolve said heat receiving and concentrating apparatus.

8. The combination with a spindle and a heat utilizing apparatus oscillatory thereon,

said apparatus includin a boiler, of inlet and outlet pipes located in said spindle, and lengths of flexible tubing joining said pipes to said boiler.

9. In a device for utilizing solar heat, the combination of a counter-weighted spindle having means for its adjustment in declination, a frame rotatable on said spindle and provided with timed means for its rotation, a series of flat, transparent plates carried by said frame at one side thereof, said plates having parallel ray-deflecting ridges, jacketed boilers carried at the side of said frame opposite to and parallel with said deflecting plates, and pipes connecting said boilers with the desired external object and adapted not to interfere with the motions of said frame.

10. A solar device consisting of a heat receiver adapted to absorb the direct rays of the sun, and refracting devices located outside the path of the suns rays to said receiver and adapted to focus or superimpose upon said receiver the solar rays impinging upon said devices.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention I have hereunto set my hand this 3rd. day of March, 1898.

- MELVIN L. SEVERY. \Vitnesses:

F. E. CALLER,

A. B. UPHAM. 

